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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. snap — to click
  4. sharp — clever
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. track — a song
  7. track — to keep track
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. track — a path
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. tube — the underground
  14. file — a document
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. degree — an amount
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. tube — a container
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. file — a line of people
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. degree — from a university
  23. file — a tool
  24. wake — a trail

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com